Here are my best for Sunday’s card 💥
Middleweight Khamzat Chimaev is 15-0, (9-0 in the UFC) with four wins coming via submission. His most recent victories being a decision win over DDP for the belt, a win via submission (face crank) over former champ Robert Whittaker, and a win via decision over former champ Kamaru Usman. His ruthless attacking mindset and takedown strike rate, especially in the opening 15 seconds of a fight is near-unstoppable, and almost guaranteed. His relentless forward pressure is something to be admired and the names of fighters that he has taken down in quick succession is almost unbelievable. Every time a test is thrown Chimaev’s way he continues to overcome. Sean can expect a fast takedown attempt due to his strong striking ability and Chimaev will want to test that defence of which Strickland has a 77% success rate doing.
Sean Strickland is 17-7 in the UFC and enters the octagon on the back of a TKO victory over Hernandez, ending his 8-fight win streak in the third round with 111 total strikes. Strickland’s career since claiming the belt over Adesanya in 2023 has been somewhat of a rollercoaster losing to DDP twice and securing a split decision win over Paulo Costa. With the two DDP fights that went the 5 rounds DDP was able to take Strickland down a combined 7 times. When DDP fought Chimaev he went 1/1 on the takedowns and Chimaev secured 12/17. Sean needs to stay on his feet, and the longer he does so, the more success he will have out-striking Chimaev, land damage and potentially a final blow. If Chimaev is locking in 12 takedowns against DDP, it could spell a long night for Sean if his defence isn’t on point or doesn’t meet the wolf’s aggressive pressure head-on.
Tip
Chimaev by submission. @ $2.02
This matchup was moved to 328 and has really taken this Main Card to a whole new level. The co-main event of the evening sees Champion of the Flyweight division Joshua Van enter the octagon for his first title defence and is on a 6-fight win streak. He goes up against Japanese fighter Tatsuro Taira. Van established himself as the champion back in December after just 26 seconds over former champ Alexandre Pantoja when his elbow unfortunately blew out after and couldn’t continue, losing both his 8-fight win streak and the Flyweight belt. Joshua Van has the UFC record across all division for most strikes landed per min (8.84) and the Flyweight record for strike differential (2.45) and is 9-1 in the UFC. This guy is quick, very quick, He utilises that immense speed, confidence and optimism in the octagon to hunt his opponents and can land heavy shots. This is his second trip out to NJ where he last fought Bruno Silva winning by KO/TKO in the third. From his 9 UFC victories Van has won 3 by KO/TKO and 6 by decision.
Tatsuro Taira is 8-1 in the UFC and has completed a nine-week training camp alongside Justin Gaethje and Cory Sandhagen. He enters the Octagon after his victory over former champion Brandon Moreno and currently holds the record for the highest top position percentage in the division with 47.7%, he has great grappling and puts himself into fantastic wrestling positions using his athleticism. Taira is on a two-fight win streak after losing to Royval by split decision over 5 rounds back in 2024. Royval was defeated by Joshua Van via unanimous decision last year, over three rounds. From his 8 UFC wins, Taira has finished 6 winning 3 by KO/TKO and 3 by Submission.
This is set to be an incredibly exciting match that could come down to a true test of cardio this Sunday. Van would have done some immense grappling prep in the build up to the Pantoja fight, but we are yet to see it tested since the Tsuruya where he scrambled well. Tatsuro is a different beast in the wrestling realm and will look for locking in that control before he aims for a submission/ finish. I’m not sure that top position will be enough as we saw against Royval, as dangerous as he is when he locks someone up. He is up against the fastest striker in the UFC where output and damage could be a key decider over 5 rounds, Tatsuro does have the height and reach advantage, which could aid him in slowing the fight down when Van begins to explode.
Tip
Joshua Van by Points or Tatsuro Taira by Submission: @ $2.20
Huge fight on the way with two heavy hitters, Volkov and Cortes-Acosta going head-to-head. “Salsa Boy” is on a 3-fight win streak, winning all three by TKO, and is 10-2 in the UFC losing only by decision. He is lethal and often looks to finish early winning all his last 3 fights inside two rounds. Volkov is a veteran fighter with 50 professional fights under his belt, has solid wins over big names, is 13-5 in the UFC, and on a two-fight win streak since losing to Cyril Gane by split decision. Volkov the more well-rounded fighter should be able to deal with the big swings from Waldo, but Waldo is explosive early and possess the power to finish the job should he connect with the right strike.
Tip
Double Chance II Alexander Volkov by Points or Waldo Cortes-Acosta by KO/TKO: @$1.77
Sean Brady is a high-level grappler who was on a three-fight win streak prior to his loss to elite striker and ranked #3 Michael Morales. Sean is 8-2 in the UFC with 4 submission wins and 4 by decision. Joaquin Buckley enters the fight after a loss to former champ Usman where he succumbed to takedowns four times. Much like Brady, Buckley was also on a win streak with 6 total. He is a dangerous striker winning 8 of his 11 fights by KO/TKO and has never lost via submission.
Tip
Sean Brady by Points @ $2.80
Stephens hasn’t won a UFC fight since 2018, has spent some time away at Bare Knuckle, and is 15-19 in the UFC. King Green on the other hand, has stayed active in the UFC in what will be his third fight in only 6 months after back-to-back wins over Zellhuber and Gibson Jr. With the momentum King Green has and the lack of UFC presence from Stephens, I expect Green to go for a quick finish and a quick paycheque.
Tip
King Green by KO/TKO @ $3.40